Bag-filling machine



I..L. CALLAH-AN. BAG FILLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.5, 191B.

1,336,612, Patented Apr. 13, 1920 3 SHEETS-SHEET I- R. L. CALLAHAN. BAG FILLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.5| 1918. 1,336,612. Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

s SHEETS-SHEET 2. .750

5y WM Wi MM- R. L. CALLAHAN.

- BAG FILLING MACHINE. APPLlcAloN FILED AuG.5, 191s.

Patented pr. 13, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

NW www mw mw $5 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT L. GALLAHAN, 0F LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

BAG-FILLING MACHINE.

Application filed August 5, 1918.

To all whom zi may concern.'

Be it known that I, ROBERT L. GALLAHAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bag-Filling Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to bag filling machines and has for its object the provision of a machine which will expeditiously and economically fill bags with any material that can be sacked by gravity feed such as lime, cement, salt, sugar, etc., although it is intended for particularly handling various kinds of grain both in its natural shape and grain in its milled or manufactured condition. If the material is not free flowing a suitable agitator may be used. Another object is the provision of mechanism by means of which the bag is given a olting or agitating action while it is being filled in order to crowd the material closely together and fill the bag as much as possible, thereby effecting economy by the use of a smaller bag than would otherwise be possible. Another object is the provision of means for filling the bag through two openings therein in order to cause a more efficient distribution of grain in the bag and to avoid the necessity of providing a single opening large enough to admit grain rapidly, such an opening being hard to close. In order to accomplish the objects of my invention the top of each bag is sewed together, with the exception of a small aperture at each corner. The exact quantity of material for each bag is discharged into a feeder spout having two branches, one leading to each corner of the bag. The material is preferably weighed by an automatic scale from which it is dumped into the feeder spout. The machine may be used in a series of from five to eight machines into any one of which the spout may be discharged as desired. The particular mechanism which enables a series of machines to be used forms no portion of the invention claimed in the present application and therefore is not disclosed in detail. In order tofurther accomplish the objects of my invention I provide a platform having a saddle or former surrounding the bottom of the bag to keep it in shape and facilitate filling, and the platform is raised and lowered so as to give a jolting action to the bag during filling.4

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

seriai No. 248,260.

The full objects and advantages of my invention will appear in connection with the detailed description thereof and are particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, which illustrate the application of my invention in one form,-

Figure 1 is a view in longitudinal section. Fig. 2 is a view in vertical cross-section. Fig. 3 is a plan view below the hoppers. Fig. 4 is an inner side view of one of the hoppers. Fig. 5 is a front view of one of the hoppers. Figs. 6 and 7 are detail views similar to Fig. 5 but showing how the movable member of the bag retainer is operated.

Referring to the particular construction shown in the drawings, 10 designates vertical members of the machine frame secured to the upper horizontal members 12 and to the lower horizontal members 14, the latter being secured to channel members 16 resting upon concrete piers 18 while the members 12 are secured to channel members 20. Two hoppers, designated at 22, are provided, there being one for each corner of the bag, and the hoppers terminate at the bottom in rigid bag-retaining members 24 constructed so as to extend downwardly into the bag through the openings at the corners thereof. Arranged for, cooperation with the rigid bag retaining members are movable bag-retaining members 26 adapted to pass into the bag and be extended horizontally beneath the closed top of the bag adjacent the corner openings. The members 26 are pivoted at 28 to the lower portion of the hoppers and have arms 30 extending substantially at right angles to the portions 26. These arms are provided with inclined surfaces 32 adapted to be engaged by rollers 34 journaled in keepers 36 which are pivoted at 38 to hanger strips 40 secured to the hoppers. In order to operate the keepers 36 they are pivotally attached at 42 to one end of the levers 44 which are pivoted at 46 to the hoppers. The other ends of the levers may be engaged by hand in order to move the keepers upwardly and permit the movable members 26 to swing downwardly, as shown in Fig. 7. The hoppers are supported by a carriage which comprises the triangularshaped end brackets 48 connected by a channel member 50 secured to the upper horizontal sides of the brackets and by a channel member 52 secured to the vertical sides thereof, as best shown in Fig. 4. Each hopper is provided at separate points with projecting members 54 which engage the channel member 50 to support the hopper on this side, and the opposing inclined side of the hopper is provided with bracket members 56 which support this side of the'hopper` upon the channel member 52. rThe members 54 and 56 are preferably provided with portions 58 and 60 which underliethe channel members and prevent the hoppers from moving upwardly relatively to the carriage While at the same time permitting them to be slid horizontally upon the carriage. The channel'member 50 is provided with two series of holes, designated at 62, while pivoted at 63 to each hopper is a spring pressed latch 64 adapted to engage in any one of the associated series of holes. By this means the hoppers are adjustably held so that they may be spaced different distances apart to accommodate sacks of different widths. rThe vertical sides of the triangular brackets 48 are provided at their top and bottom with lugs 66 in which are journaled spaced rollers 68 as shown in Fig. 2. These rollers engage opposite sides of carriage guide members 70 which are secured to the machine frame. A truss rod 72 is secured to the carriage, this rod consisting of two portions converging upwardly to a common point to which is secured a steel ribbon 74 which passes upwardly between the channel members 20 and over a quadrant disk 76 to which it is secured at the upper end. The quadrant disk 76 is rigidly attached to a second quadrant disk 78 to which is secured one Yend of a second steel ribbon 80 having its other end secured to an arm 82 which is rotatably mounted in a housing containing a coil spring 84 which vtends to hold the arm 82 up into the position shown in Fig. 1. The quadrant disks are loosely mounted on a shaft 86 journaled in brackets 87, and it is therefore evident that the carriage is spring-tensioned upwardly and may yield downwardly as the filling of Y and which gives a jolting action to the bag while it is being filled. The platform comprises a saddle member 92 for surrounding the bottom of the bag and a cross member 94 upon which the middle portion of the bag rests. Supported by the frame members 14 are crossbars 96 carrying rubber bumpers 98. The bag platform has secured to each of its four corners a saddle stay 100, and

'these castings is adjustably secured the 'lower end of a saddle hanger 104, the upper ends of these hangers being attached to arms 106 which are secured to clutch members 110 loosely mounted on a rocker shaft 108 which is mounted in bearings in any suitable manner. The clutch members 110 abut against collars 112 on the shaft, while splined on said shaft are coperating clutch members 114 normally urged into engagement with the members 110 by springs 116 located between members 114 and collars 118 on the shaft. Secured to the shaft 86 is a bar having two arms 120 and 122 to which are respectivelypivoted the arms 124 and 126 attached at their outer ends to the clutch members 114. Secured to the shaft 86 is an arm 128 the outer end of which is pivoted to a clutch control bar 130which extends down through the flooring 132. The lower end of this bar has a hook 134 adapted to be engaged by a dog 136, and it will be apparent that when the clutch control bar is held down in the position shown in Fig. 1 that the two arms 120 and 122 have-been turned in a counter clock-wise direction, and hence the clutch members 114 are held out of engagement with the cooperating members 110. The dog l136 is pivoted at 137 and has a rearwardly-extending arm 138 connected by'a spring 140 to the floor. The spring holds the dog forward into position to engage the hook 134 when the bar 130 is depressed by thel operator by means of a foot piece 142 on said bar. A pin or short rod 144 having a head 146 extends through the floor into engagement with the arm 138. When the operator steps' upon the head 146 of this pin the bar 130 is released and the springs 116, force the clutch members into clutching engagement. When this occurs the rock shaft 108 will impart movement to the saddle hangers 104 and cause the bag platform to move up and down, thereby giving a jolting action to the bag. It will be understood that the hopper carriage is tensioned upwardly bythe tension device previously described, and that it is capable of movement up and downl along the guide members 70. The shaft 108 Yis rocked by means of an ar'm 148 secured thereto, said arm being connected by a pitman rod 150 to an eccentric 152 on a drive shaft 154. This shaft has secured to ita drive pulley 156 over which passes a driving belt 158 connected with any suitable source of power. A feeder spout 160 leads fromrthe source of supply of material to be sacked, this source of supply preferably being a predetermined quantity which may be weighed by an automatic scale.f 'lhe lower end of the spout divides into two branches 162,`

which are inclined as shown in Fig. 2 so as to extend into the hoppers along the correspondingly-inclined walls thereof. The hoppers 22 in effect constitute continuations of the feed spouts 162.

The operation and advantages of my bag filling machine will be obvious from the foregoing description. The operator inserts the bag-retaining members into the two corner openings of the bag, and then by lifting the arms they will be engaged by the keepers 36 and the movable bag-retaining members held in contact with the closed por tion of the bag as shown in Fig. 5. A predetermined amount of material sufiicient for filling a bag is then allowed to iiow through the spout 160 into the bag at the two corners thereof. The operator by stepping on the pin 1416 releases the clutch-control bar 130, whereupon the bag is moved up and down to compact the material therein. W hen the predetermined amount of material has been allowed to run into the bag, the operator by stepping upon the foot piece 142 causes the jolting action to cease on account of the engagement of the hook 134 by the dog 136, and the bag may be released by disengaging the bag-retaining members 26 as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The corners of the bag may then be readily closed by means of the fastening members disclosed and claimed in my Patent No. 1,242,139, granted October 9, 1917.

I claim:

1. A machine for filling bags comprising a carriage, yielding means tending to hold said carriage upwardly, two hoppers mounted on said carriage, means whereby said hoppers may be adjusted toward or from each other, means for delivering material to both hoppers, means located on the bottoms of said hoppers for holding the top of a bag so as to receive material from both hoppers, and means for moving the bag up and down as it is being filled.

2. A machine for filling bags which are provided with two corner openings at the upper end of the bag comprising a feed spout for each of said corner openings, a rigid bag retaining member on the lower end of each feed spout, a movable bag retaining member pivoted on the lower end of each feed spout, means for releasably holding said movable members extended beneath the closed portion of the top of the bag, and means for supporting said feed spouts adjustably whereby they may be moved toward or away from each other to adapt them to different sized bags.

3. A machine for filling bags which are provided with two corner openings at the upper end of the bag, comprising a carriage, vertical carriage guide members secured to the frame of the machine, a shaft supported above said carriage, two quadrant disks secured together and loosely mounted on said shaft, a flexible member one end of which is connected with said carriage and the other end of which is secured to one of said quadrant disks, a second flexible member one end of which is secured to the other of said quadrant disks, a spring positioned above said carriage, a member connected with said spring so as to be tensioned upwardly and to which the other end of said second exible member is connected, two hoppers mounted on said carriage, means for delivering material to both hoppers, means located on the bottoms of said hoppers for holding a bag so as to receive material from both hoppers, and means for moving the bag up and down as it is being filled.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aix my signature.

ROBERT L. CALLAHAN. 

